Tumbler lock pin setting machine



Jan. 4, 1966 M. e. ROLAND TUMBLER LOCK PIN SETTING MACHINE 4 Shams-Sheet 1 Filed June 26, 1964 Jan. 4, 1966 M. e. ROLAND 3,22

TUMBLER LOCK PIN SETTING MACHINE Filed June 26, 1964 4 $neets-Sheet 2 43 igs. 3.

INVENTOR.

. J4 MAX G. ROLAND.

u f 'f BY 56 J5 58 i293;

77% ANEY Jan. 4, 1966 M. G. ROLAND 3,226,311

TUMBLER LOCK PIN SETTING MACHINE Filed June 26, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR flax G. POLAND.

M. G. ROLAND TUMBLEH LOCK PIN SETTING MACHINE Jan. 4, 1966 4 SheeW-Sheet 4 Filed June 26, 1964 kw mw OGOOOOGOOO Ir llll 1| INVENTOR.

MAX QRQLAN/J.

3,226,311 TUMELER LOCK PIN SETTING MACHINE Max G. Roland, San Carlos, Califi, assignor to Marornatic Company, Inc., Burlingame, Calif., a corporation of California 1 Filed June 26, 1964, Ser. No. 378,314

Claims. (Cl. 29211) of cylinder locks is the determination of the proper lengths of the tumbler pins that are to be used in the chambers of the key plug of the look so that the individual pins will cooperate with the configuration of a particular lock key and establish a uniform shear line between the key plug and the lock housing when the key is inserted in the lock.

While other aspects of cylinder lock assemblies, such as the insertion of springs, drive pins and covers, are relatively simple,- the determination of the proper lengths of tumbler pins to be inserted in the key plug is a time-consuming task and requires skilled labor and with the hunt and try system this is expensive and ineificient. Attempts have been made in the past to provide machines or apparatus for automatically assembling the components of cylinder locks, but such machines have for a varietyof reasons proved unreliable since they have to be set to a predetermined complex pattern by relatively elaborate programming means such asgkeyboards and electrical controls. l

A primary advantage of the device of my invention is the fact that elaborate programming means for the apparatus is dispensed with and cylinder locks can be assembled in a random fashion, thus eliminating the necesw sity for assembling large quantities of locks in the same pattern with the same pattern of keys and tumbler pins. This materially reduces the time necessary for assembly of cylinder locks and also eliminates the complex programming means previously thought so necessary to a proper operation of such apparatus.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide a device for automatically assembling cylinder locks which is characterized by the fact that no duplicate key of the lock being assembled is required to determine the tumbler-pin pattern of the lock and to control the insertion of the proper tumbler pins in the appropriate pinholes of the particular key plug. 7

Another object of my invention is theprovision of the device of the aforementioned character which includes key reading means with an electronic memory system which first determines the proper lengths of tumbler pins to be delivered to the plug of the lock from a tumbler pin supply hopper and subsequently delivers said tumbler pins of appropriate lengths totthe corresponding chambers of the key plug. p

Another object of my invention is-the provision of the device by which the locks to be assembled can be chosen in a random manner so that a completely different tumbler pattern may be established from lock to lock, or determined solely by the configuration of the particular key to be utilized in the lock. 1

Other objects and advantages will, be in part evident to those skilled inthe art and in part pointed out hereinafter in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein there is shown by way of illustration and not in limitation of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

3,226,811 Patented Jan. 4, 1966 In the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views:

FIGURE 1 is a partial perspective view of my device as assembled with a keyboard control panel,

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional tumbler lock,

FIGURE 3 is a vertical view, partly in section, showing operating details of the device of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the operating elements illustrated in FIGURE 3, 7

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view showing details of the pin magazine positioning means employed in the assembly of FIGURE 3,

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary right angle view of parts as shown in FIGURE 5,

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary section view showing detail of the key-sensing means of FIGURES 8 and 9,

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of the key-sensing means,

FIGURE 9 is a side elevation of the key-sensing device as shown in FIGURE 8.

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary diagrammatic view showing the pin loader positioning means,

FIGURE 11 is a view looking toward the right at FIG- URE 10,

FIGURE 12 is a vertical sectional view of the pin loader and magazine taken along line 1212 of FIG- URE 4, and

FIGURE 13 is a wiring diagram showing a portion of the electrical and pneumatic control connections employed in the operation of my invention.

For a more detailed description of the invention reference is now made to the accompanying drawings and more particularly at this time to FIGURES 1 and 2, for a general description of the apparatus and problems involved.

In FIGURE 1, the numeral 10 designates broadly a cabinet or console having a horizontally extending top 11 into which is a flush or recessed rigid panel 12 of steel or the likeupon which the various cooperating and movable parts of my pin setting device are mounted or suspended. At the front of the console 10 there is a control power.

panel 13 with various switches, push buttons and other means to be described in more detail hereinafter. At one side of the panel 13 there is a main control switch 14 with an indicating lamp 15 by which the apparatus is connected and disconnected from a suitable source of In this showing the rigid panel 12 is disposed in a diagonal position upon the top 11 of the console 10, in order to place the operating mechanism in a more convenient location for the operator when the apparatus is in use. For example, with the operator sitting at the front of the console It) the control panel 13 will be convenient to the right hand and thus leave the left hand of the operator free and at a convenient location to manipulate and position the pin carrying key plug 16-upon a stationary supp'ort 17 where the pin receiving chambers of the key plug 16 ,will be in full view and positioned to receive the pins when the operation is completed.

having five sight openings 18 for a five-bit key assembly through which numerals corresponding to the pins required for a particular key. In association with this feature, the panel 13 is also shown as having a keyhole slot 19 for the insertion of a key corresponding with the key It may be here noted that the control panel 13 is shown as keyway 21 for receiving the configured bit 22 of a key 23 provided for use with the particular lock. The key plug 16 also has a plurality of tumbler pin chambers 24 adapted to receive tumbler pins 25 which are associated with driving pins 26 that are biased downwardly by means .of compression springs 27. These compression springs 27 and the associated driving pins 26 are maintained in operative relationship within chambers 28 in the cylinder housing by means of a retainer or cover 23 car ried by the lock cylinder 20.

In addition to the configurated bits 22 which, as shown, are adapted to receive the lower extremities of the tumbler pins 25. When the key 23, having a properly configured bit 22, is inserted in the keyway 21 a shear line will be established between the adjacent extremities of the tumbler pins and the driving pins 26. This will establish a shear line coinciding with the adjacent surfaces of the key plug 16 and the key plug housing 20 and thus permit relative rotation between said key plug 16 and said cylinder housing 20 in a manner well known to those skilled in the art.

The major problem in the assembly of tumbler locks as indicated above resides in the fact that, since the key bits 30 of different lock sets are necessarily made different to prevent a single key from actuating a plurality of locks, the lengths of the tumbler pins 25 must be varied to accommodate the different configurations of keys during the assembly of key plug 16. In this operation the selection of tumbler pins 25 of proper lengths is an arduous and time-consuming task which has been, up to the present time performed most effectively by hand.

By now referring back to FIGURE 1 of the drawings it will be noted that the support or holder 17 for the key plug 16, which is to be equipper With tumbler pins 25 of appropriate lengths to correspond with the bits of a key 23, is held in a fixed position at the extreme end of a slot 31 formed in the rigid apparatus supporting panel 12 within which a pin loading means 32 is adapted to move from a pin receiving position adjacent to a pin supply magazine 33 to a pin discharging position directly over the ultimate key plug 16. As a support for the pin loader 32, there is a guide rod 34 that extended centrally throughout the length of the slot 31, along which the pin loading means 32 is adapted to slide when the device is in operation. To accommodate the pin loader 32 and position it over the key plug 16 on the support 17 the pin loader 32 is shown as having an overhanging pin carrying portion 35.

The overhanging portion 35 of the pin loading means 32 is here shown as having five openings or wells 35 into which any one of ten different pins may be taken from the pin supply magazine 33 as the magazine 33 is moved relative thereto as will be hereinafter pointed out. The magazine 33 is mounted to move back and forth into any one of a number of 10 diffrent locations along a supporting rod 37 as will be determined by a key sensing means that is responsive to a particular key when inserted in the key slot 19 of the control panel 13. As a further support for the magazine 33 there is a guide rod 38. Associated with the magazine and operating simutaneously with the positioning of the magazine 33, as indicated by the key sensing means, there is a pin discharging means 39 that will operate to deliver a particular tumbler pin 25 from the magazine 33 and cause it to be deposited in a proper well 36 of the pin loading means 32. The supporting rod 37 and the guide rod 38 upon which the magazine 33 is mounted are shown as extending between two pedestals 40 and 41 and outwardly from the pedestal 41 there is a bracket 42 here shown as broken off at the upper end. This bracket 42 will operate as a support for a plurality of tumbler pin orienting hoppers (not shown) from which individual pin feeding tubes 43 extend. It should be added that the overhanging portion 35 of the pin loader 32 has a sliding gate 44 at the underside thereof which will remain in a closed position when the pin loader 32 is being loaded from the magazine 33. This gate 44 is adapted and arranged to be controlled by a push button 45 which will open the gate 44 as it makes contact with the cylinder supporting holder 17. At this point the several chambers of the overhanging portion 35 of the pin loading means 32 will be directly over the corresponding tumbler pin chambers 24 of the key plug 16 into which the particular tumbler pins 25 are to be deposited.

Referring now back to the control panel 13 as shown in FIGURE 1, it will be noted that, in addition to the On-Off switch 14 with its telltale light 15, the sight apertures 18 and the key sensing slot 19, this panel also carries an On-Off switch 46 by which the pin indicating digits appearing through the sight openings 18 may be rendered operative or inoperative. When the control switch 14 is closed and the pin loading apparatus is in operation a ready indicating lamp 47 will light up to indicate this condition. The operator can then by pushing button 48 cause the pin loading device 32 to carry the preselected pins over for discharge into the tumbler pin key plug 16. Should it be desired to obtain similar pin arrangements for a plurality of key plugs the operator can accomplish this by turning a switch 4-9 and thus render the key sensing means responsible for any number of similar tumbler carrying key plugs. When this switch 49 is operated a light 50 will indicate that the apparatus is in a repeat pin dispensing operation. To clear the device in the event of this repeat operation the operator can cancel the repeat operation and clear the machine for individually different key plugs 16 by pushing a control button 51. The additional button 52, here shown, is provided as a start and stop, switch for controlling an air compressor which will supply air under pressure for the pneumatic aspect of the control as will be hereinafter described.

Reference is now made to FIGURES 3 and 4 of the drawings for a description of the motivating forces employed for positioning the pin supply magazine 33 and the pin loading means 32. As here indicated the pin supply magazine 33 has a depending arm 53 which as will hereinafter appear has a guide roller in contact with the guide rod 38 and connected to the shaft upon which this roller is mounted there is an operating lever arm 54 that is pivotally mounted upon a shaft 55 to which there is keyed two axially spaced spiders 56 between which there are two oppositely mounted rollers 57 and 58. These rollers 57 and 58, as Will hereinafter appear, are adapted and arranged to be engaged by inclined surfaces of a series of oppositely disposed camming plates 59 and 60, there being five each of these camming plates 59 and 6%), each of which has a differently angled camming surface. It will also be noted here that the camming plates 59 and 60 are mounted to slide in a supporting frame 61 and are each connected to and operated by pneumatic cylinders 62 and 63 that are electromagnetically controlled by electromagnetic valve means as will hereinafter appear. With this arrangement it will be understood that when one or the other of the camming plates 59 and 60 is operated by its control cylinder 62 or 63 the rollers 57 and 58 carried by the shaft 55 will assume a position in contact with the inclined face of one of the active camming plates 59 or 60. This will cause the lever arm 54 to assume a corresponding angle of inclination and thus move the pin supply magazine 33 into a corresponding pin discharging position over the overhanging portion 35 of the pin loading means 32. As shown, there are five each of these ten camming plates 59 and 60 and their camming angles are so related that the lever arm 54 will position any one of the ten different pin discharging outlets thereof at the required location for entry into one or the other of the pin receiving wells 35 of the pin loading means 32. During this operation it will be understood that the pin loading means 32 will remain stationary when any one of amen 5 its pin receiving wells 36 is in a position to receive the particular pin selected by one of the camming plates 59 or 60. The particular bit engaging pins of cylinder locks of the character here contemplated are generally dimen sioned in thousandths of an inch in accordance with the decimal system and while the pin dimensions ofdiiferent lock manufacturers may vary, for all practical purposes it can be understood that these pins will generally have a diameter of approximately A3 of an inch and will vary from A; to of an inch in length with the difference in length varying in uniform increments from twelve to twenty-five thousandths of an inch. The different pins are uniformly identified and numbered from zero to nine (9). In the drawing the pins are shown as being fed to the pin supply magazine 33 through the pin feeding tubes 43, each of which will carry pins of a uniform length. For example, the tube at the left will supply the zero (0) pins and tube at the extreme right will supply the No. 9 pins. To accommodate the pins of difierent lengths it will be noted that the pin supply magazine 33 has slides 65 of differing depths into which the pins are dropped from a related tube 43. These dropped pins will remain in the respective slides 65 until the slide is displaced into a position over the pin loader 32 as indicated in FIG. 4. At this point the pin carried by the particular slide 65 will drop into the proper well 36 of the pin loader over which the slide 65 is projected. It should be stated that the slides 65 are biased into their inoperative pin holding position by spring means (not shown) and are adapted and arranged to be moved against this bias and projected from one side of the pin magazine 33 and over the pin loading means 32 by means of a push rod 66 that is a part of the, pin discharging means 39.

As indicated in FIGURE 4, a slide 65 of the pin loading means 32 is in a position to receive pin No. from the pin supplying magazine 33 which pin, as here indicated, has been deposited in the No. 3 well of the pin loading means 32. In this arrangement the pin loading means 32 is normally biased into a right hand position, as here viewed, by a compression spring 67 that is mounted within a pneumatic cylinder 68 and operates against a crosshead 69 through a tie-rod 70 as will also more fully appear hereinafter. As previously described the pin loader 32 is slidably mounted upon a supporting rod 34, and to retain it in its proper vertical position the lower end thereof slidably engages a guide rod 71 which extends between two pedestals 72 and 73 at the underside of the supporting plate 12. In this figure of the drawing it will also be noted that the pin loader 32 has a downwardly extending abutment 74 by which its position with respect to the pin magazine is determined by a stepping cam as will be hereinafterpointed out.

For a further description of the motivating means for moving and positioning the pin loading magazine 33 into any one of its ten diiferent positions as determined by the particular tumbler pin to be selected therefrom, reference is now made to FIGURES 5 and 6 of the drawings where there is shown five of the camming plates 60, each one of which is adapted and arranged to be independently 57 and 58 are mounted. As here indicated the hydraulic cylinders 62 and 63 are controlled by electromagnetic valve means 75 and since only one of these electromagnetic valve controlling means will be operated atone time only that one will come into operativeengagement with the rollers 57 and 58. In this action the acting camming plate 59 or 60 will exercise a predominating force that will result in movement of the crank arm 54 irrespective of the position into which it may have been moved by a previous operating camming plate 59 or 60. The crank arm 54 has an elongated eye 76 through which a stub shaft 77 that carries a guide roller 78 upon the guide rod will move in a definite path and thus impart this movement to the pin magazine 33. The camming plate 6 59 and 60 are here shown as mounted edgewise between spaced pins 79 and 80 carried by the bracket 61 and, as explained in connection with FIGURE 3 of the drawings, with the crank arm 54 keyed upon the shaft it can be readily seen that the shaft engaging eye 76 at the upper end thereof will move in an arc and cause the pin magazine 33 to assume definite pin dispensing positions where it will be firmly held as long as compressed air is admitted to its particular operating cylinder 62 or It will also be noted that the pin dispensing slides 65 by which the diiferent tumbler pins are transferred from the magazine 33 to the pin loader 32 are all arranged in a horizontal plane so that the single push rod 66 of the pin discharging means 39 will engage therewith as the pin magazine 33 is moved along its supporting rod 37. When this occurs the feeding of one or the other of the tumbler pins therefrom will be determined by the particular camming plate 59 or functioning at that particular moment. a

The operation of the camming plates 59 and 66 and the position of the pin loader 32 is dependent upon an electromagnetic memory means which, as will be described in more detail in connection with FIGURE 13 of the drawings, consists of five rows of ten relays each that are related to the ten different lengths of the tumbler pins to be delivered from the pin magazine 33 to one or the other of the five differently located pin receiving wells 36 of the pin loading means 32. This memory means is responsive to a key sensing device by which the relation of the diiferent tumbler pins and the several bits of the key are determined for any particular key. In its operation this memory means will determine the proper tumbler pins to be deposited in the wells 36 of the pin loading means 32 for delivery to the key plug 16 with which the sensed key will be used.

For a detailed description of a key sensing means reference-is now made to 7, 8 and 9 of the drawings.

As shown in FIGURE 7 of the drawings key slot 19 of the control panel 13 is equipped with a stationary but are adapted and arranged to move over and make a circuit completing contact with a plurality of stationary terminals 92 each of which will complete a circuit for one of the pin identifying relays of the memory means for each of the five bits of the key 23. Except for a very few instances most tumbler locks on the market today are equipped with a five-bit key, but it is to be understood that any memory means can be modified to accommodate and sense lock keys having a greater or lesser number of bits by merely adding to or subtracting from the five rows of bit identifying relays of the memory means. At

. the inner end of the key slot 19 I have shown a push pin 93 that is engaged and operated by the key 23 when merely illustrative and it will be therefore understood that the assembly as shown will be mounted upon suitable supports at the back of the control panel 13 with the key slotz19 exposed at the front of the panel for the insertion of the key 23 to be sensed.

Reference is now made to FIGURES 10 and 11 of the drawings for description of the operating mechanism by which the pin receiving position of the pin'loading means 32 with respect to the magazine 33 is determine. As explained above the pin loading means 32 has an overhanging portion 35 which in this instance has five pins accommodating wells 36. In its operation the pin loader 32 is adapted and arranged to pick up a pin taken from the supply magazine 33 by a selected one of the slides 65 associated therewith. As each pin is picked up by the operation of one of the cylinders 62 the pin loader 32 will move one step at a time to the right as viewed in FIGURES l, 3 and 4 into a next position for the reception of each additional pin from the magazine 33. This operation will continue until the pin loader 32 has been stepped back through five distinct movements by a stepping cam 95 that is here shown as mounted upon a shaft 96 carried by a support 97. As is also shown the stepping cam 95 operated through a ratchet means 98 by a pneumatic means 99 under the control of an electromagnetic relay 100. To accomplisht-his operation it will be noted that the stepping cam has five distinct axially displaced steps or lands against which the abutment 74 carried by the pin loader 32 will be held by the compression spring 67, which as hereinbefore pointed out and more clearly shown in FIGURE 3 of the drawing operates through the connecting tie-rod 70. This stepby-step movement of the pin loader 32 will be timed and synchronized with respect to the operation of the pin transferring slides 65 of the pin magazine 33 by electromagnetic relays and pneumatic means controlled through the memory means as will be pointed out more fully in the description on the operation of my invention.

Upon referring to FIGURE 12 of the drawings it will be noted that the pin delivery tubes 43 terminate in alignment with openings in the pin magazine 33 and when the pin transferring slide 65 is retracted an opening 101 therein will also be in a position to receive one of the pins 25 from the tubes 43. When the slide 65 is moved to the right by the pin transferring slides 65 as here shown the pin 25 located therein will drop into one of the pin receiving wells of the pin loader 32. In this showing the pin transferring slides 65 are each shown as biased into a pin receiving position by means of a compression spring 102. The slide 44 of the pin loader 32 is here shown as in a position to retain the pin 25 therein until it is placed over the key cylinder or plug upon the support 17 as a final step in the movement of the pins 25 from the magazine 33 to the lock key plug 16.

Reference is now made to FIGURE 13 of the drawings for a description of the operation of my invention, and more particularly the aspects the eof by which the tumbler lock key 23 is sensed as to the character of its pin engaging bits and memorized to provide a series of pin assembling operations for the lock cylinder and by Wihch any one of ten different tumbler pins may be selected and ultimately deposited in a proper chamber of a five-bit key operated key plug of the lock in a continuous and automatic manner. In this diagrammatic showing and for clarity the operation will be explained as it relates to the collecting of a single pin for insertion in the key plug 16. It will, therefore, be understood that a similar sequence of operations will be repeated for each pin until the total number of pins for the key plug have been collected in the key loader 32 for transfer to the key plug 16 with which the particular keys so sensed is to be used. For example, in this diagram only one of the five levers 84 to 88 of the key bit sensing means are shown with one of the pneumatic cylinders 63 operating on a single camming plate 60, together with a single bank of the bit responsive relays of the memory means as related to a single pin collecting operation. In connection with this control circuit diagram it is to be understood that there are ten horizontal banks of relays containing five relays each operating on a potential of 24 volts and the pneumatic cylinders will operate on a 50 to pounds per square inch pressure. The five relays here shown are under the control of the five key sensing levers 84 to 88 which as illustrated in FIGURES 8 and 9 of the drawings engage five sets of the control contacts 92 that are related to the ten different pin sizes or delivery positions of the pin magazine 33. As indicated ten different length pins are numbered 0 to 9, inclusive, thus making ten pins with ten different positions for the pin magazine 33. In this diagram the key sensing lever 84 is shown as on the 0 pin collecting position of the magazine 33 and as a first pin receiving position the pin loader 32 is shown as in its left hand position to receive the 0 pin from the magazine 33 as illustrated in FIGURE 12 of the drawings.

When my device is in use it will be assumed that the operator has a five-bit key which is to be used with a key plug having comparable bit engaging pins selected from a total of ten different sizes, one for each of the five different bits of the key. The proper selection of pins for the key plug 16 will provide a complete shear line throughout the length of the key plug. This selection of pins will be determined by the cut of the key with the lenghts of the different pins corresponding with the related bits of the key. To start the operation, with the apparatus as set up and assembled in a console type cabinet as shown in FIGURE 1 of the drawings, the operator will'first insert the key 23 for which a key plug is required into the key sensing slot 19 upon the control panel 13. This operation will establish a condition as shown in FIGURE 7 of the drawings, wherein the key sensing levers 84 to 88 will be caused to establish connections with ten different pin identifying contacts 92 as indicated in FIGURES 8 and 9 of the drawings. This operation will set up a memory circuit consisting of a bank of electrical relays arranged in five vertical rows with ten horizontal rows of similar relays. Each of these relays will have reference to a different pin size and also the position the preselected pin will assume in any one of the five pin accommodating chambers 24 of the key plug 16 with which the particular key being read or sensed will be used.

The putting of the key 23 into the key sensing keyhole slot 19 of the control panel 13 will operate all five levers of the key sensing means. As shown in FIG- URE 13 the lever arm 84 (which is one of the five) will establish a circuit for a corresponding relay 102 of the memory system. In this operation the microswitch 94 at the end of the key 23 (see FIGURE 7) will be closed and thus complete a circuit to energize the coil of the relay 102 which as here shown is established through the key sensing arm 84 and the contacts 92. In this event relay 102 will become locked-in through cont acts 1G3 associated therewith and simultaneously close the contacts 104 and complete a circuit through a stepping switch 105, which is adapted and arranged to assume a position with respect to one or the other of the five bits of the key. This circuit through the contact 103 is continued from the stepping switch to the electromagnetic relay 75, here shown as operating a valve 106 to energize the pneumatic cylinder 63 of the pin magazine positioning means. This, as shown in FIGURES 5 and 6 of the drawings, will operate to move the magazine 33 into any one of ten different positions with respect to the pin discharging means 39. As hereinbefore pointed out the pin discharging means 39 will operate to transfer a particular one of the ten pins from the pin magazine 33 and into the pin loading means 32. This forward operation of the pneumatic cylinder 63 will be controlled by the associated camming plate 60 and as this plate reaches its final position a microswitch 107 will be momentarily closed and establish a circuit through a normally closed contact 108 of a time delay relay 109. This will establish an energizing circuit for the coil of a relay 111 which operating through a pneumatic valve zine 33 and into the first cavity 35 of the pin preloading means 32. As here illustrated the pin will be delivered from the magazine 33 and into the number 1 position of the pin carrying preloader 32. The relay 199 has a time delay dash pot and when its period of delay has expiredthe contact 110 of the relay 109 will open the circuit of the relay 111 and clo-sethe pneumatic valve 112. This will permit the spring 113 of the pin discharging means 39 to return the push rod 66 to its inoperative position. At the same time the pin displacing slide 65 of the magazine 33 will also return into its original position to receive another pin for a subsequent operation. In this return movement of the push rod 66 a switch 114 will be momentarily closed by a tripping member 115 carried by the push rod 66 and establish a circuit through contacts 116 for a time delay relay 117 that will be held locked-in for a delayed period of time by an associated dash pot as shown. This will temporarily hold the contacts 118-and 119 in circuit completing engagement. When this occurs a circuit will be completed through the contacts 118 for the solenoid 100 and thus cause the stepping cam operating means. 99 to move the stepping cam 95 into a second position for the reception of a different pin for No. 2 hole of the preloader 32. This receivedpin will be determined by the position taken by the magazine 33 with respect to the second pin accommodating chamber of the pin preloader 32. This will be determined by the particular relays in the bank of relays that is associatedjwith the pin identi fying contacts 92 by any one of the five key displaced lever arms 84 of the keysensing means as will be determined by the cut of the key being sensed. At the same time the contact 1190f the time delay relay 117 will complete a circuit for a motor magnet 120 for the stepping switch arm 195. This will advance the stepping switch one step at a time to thus establish a circuit for any one of the five relays in each horizontal blank of the memory system. There will be ten of these arms 105 in the complete memory system, or in other words one arm for each set of the five relays 102. As each pin is preloaded the operation will be repeated in the above described order until each one of the five holes of the preloader 32 has received a pin corresponding to a bit of the particular key being sensed or read at the time. After the five pins have been deposited in the preloader 32 the stepping drum 95 will operate to close a switch 121 that will cause the light 47 on the control panel 13 to light up and thus indicate to the. operator that the preloader 32 is loaded with the required number of pins.

When this light 47 flashes it will indicate to the operator that the -preloader 32 is ready to complete the pin assembling operation and by pushing the control button 48 upon the panel 13 the operator will complete a circuit for energizing a control relay 122 and close -the contacts 123 and become locked-in. At the same time the closing of contacts 1241 in this manner will establish a circuit :for a reset magnet 125 of the stepping switch 105 and reset the stepping switch for a repeat operation. The contacts 126 of the relay 122 will energize a relay 10 its first position for a repeat of the pin-loading operation. At the same time switch 130 will open and interrupt the holding circuit of the relay 122. When this occurs the relay 127 will operate to open the valve 64 and permit the exhaust of air from the pneumatic cylinder 68. This will permit the spring 67 in the cylinder 68 to return the preloader 32 to its starting position which will be upon the first step of the positioning drum 95. To repeat the operation the operator Will then only need to insert a new-key in the key sensing slot 19 of the control panel 13.

While I have for the sake of cle-arness and in order to disclose the invention so that the same can be readily understood, described and illustrated specific devices and arrangements, I desire to have it understood that this invention is not limited to the specific means disclosed, but

may be embodied in other ways that will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art. It is believed that this invention is new and all such changes as come within the scope of the appended claims are to be considered as part of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus for selecting and assembling the key engaging pins of a tumbler lock in conformity with the pre-cut bits of a key, the combination of a pin sup ply magazine having segregated groups of pins of different lengths, means for ejecting pins from said supply magzine, a key sensing means for determining the pinsto be ejected from said magazine as required by j the bits of said key, a preloading means for tnansferring pins ejected from said supply magazine to a cylinder lock plug, an electro-pneumatic system responsive to said key sensing means for controlling the selection of a proper pin'from said supply magazine for each bit of a key, as

determined by said key sensing means, and means for moving said preloading means with said selection of pins to a lock plug as a continuous operation.

2. In an apparatus for assembling the bit engaging pins ofa tumbler lock key plug in conformity with the pre-cut bits of a key, the combination of a movable pin magazine having segregated groups of pins of different lengths, means for ejecting ditferent pins from the segregated gr-oups of said magazine, a key sensing means for determining and selecting the pins to be ejected from said magazine as required by the cut of a particular key, means for transferring the pins ejected from said magazine to a cylinder l-ock plug, and an electro-pneumatic control means responsive to said key sensing means for controlling the operation of said pin ejecting means and said pin transferring means, whereby a proper pin as determined by said key sensing means will be ejected from said magazine and deposited'in the plug of a tumbler lock cylinder with which the sensed key is to be used.

3. In an apparatus for selecting and assembling the bit engaging keys of a tumbler lock in conformity with a loading means for transferring diiferent pins from said' magazine tothe key plug of a lock cylinder, a kye sensing means for determining the pins to be discharged from said 127 associated Withthe pneumatic cylinder 68 and open 6 the valve 64 and cause the push rod to move the preloader 32 into position over and directly above the key plug 16 upon the support 17 into which the collected pins are to be finally inserted. In its final movement the preloader 32 will also operate a switch 129 and thus open and deenergize the relays of the memory system for a new start on another and different key 23. Simultaneously the closing of a switch 130 by the preloader 32 as indicated will energize the relay 100 and ,thus cause the stepping drum 95 to return from its fifth position to hopper as required by the bits of the pre-cut key, and an electro-pneumatic control system responsive to said key sensing means for selecting the proper pins from said magazine for each bit of a sensed key and subsequently transferring said selection of pins to a cylinder lock plug as a continuous operation.

, 4. In an apparatus for assembling the tumbler pins of a cylinder lock, the combination of a key sensing means having a keyhole slot into which the key of a lock may be inserted, a memory system consisting of a bank of relays responsive to the several bits of the key together with interconnected banks of relays having a relation to the total number of pins available for assembly into a cylinder lock plug, a pin magazine having segregated quantities of pins of different lengths, means responsive to said memory system for positioning said magazine for the discharge of certain pins therefrom in a step-by-step manner, a preloading means having pin accommodating chambers adapted to assume positions for the reception of the pins discharged from said magazine as determined by said key sensing means, means for discharging pins from said magazine and into said preloading means for insertion into the proper chambers of the cylinder lock plug as the chambers of said preloading means are brought into register with predetermined segregated groups of pins carried by said magazine.

5. In an electro-pneumatically controlled device for assembling the bit engaging pins of a cylinder lock plug, the combination of a pin magazine having segregated groups of bit engaging pins of different character, a pin preloading means having chambers comparable to a cylinder lock plug, means for transferring selected pins from said magazine to the chambers of said preloading means, a cylinder lock plug for said selected pins, means for positioning said preloader over said plug a key bit sensing means, and an electro-pneumatically controlled means responsive to said key bit sensing means operating to deposit said pins in said cylinder lock plug as determined by said key sensing means.

6. In a key sensing means for a pin setting device of the character described, the combination of an electronic memory means consisting of circuits including relays related to a plurality of different pin characteristics and to the positions to be assumed by different pins in the key plug of a cylinder lock, a key sensing means for setting up circiuts in said electronic memory means for controlling the selection of pins from a source of supply as deterined by the bits of a pre-cut key, and an eelctro-pneumatic system of control for carrying out the operation as set up in said memory means by said key sensing means.

7. In a key sensing system for a pin setting device of the character described, the combination of an electronic memory means consisting of a bank of relays related to a plurality of different tumbler lock pin characteristics together with a bank of relays related to the positions to be assumed by different pins in the plug of a cylinder lock, a key sensing means having circuit establishing means for energizing relays in each of said banks to establish circuits in said memory means for controlling the selection of pins from a source of supply for each position in a key plug as determined by the bits of a pre-cut key, and electro-pneumatically controlled means responsive to circuits established in said electronic memory means as determined by said key sensing means.

8. In a pin assembly device for loading the key plug of a tumbler lock, the combination of a key sensing device for determining the lengths and positions of the pins of a tumbler lock plug as required by the pin engaging bits of a tumbler lock key, a movable hopper having spaced and segregated groups of pins of corresponding lengths, a pin preloading device having chambers corresponding in number to the pin chambers of a key plug, stationary means adapted and arranged to transfer selected pins from said hopper to said pin preloading device as determined by said key sensing means, means for positioning said preloading device with respect to said stationary means for the reception of pins transferred from said hopper as determined by said key sensing means, and means for moving said pin preloading device with the selected pins over and discharging said pins into the key plug of a lock for which the sensed key is intended.

9. In an apparatus for assembling the tumbler pins of a cylinder lock the combination of, a key sensing means having a keyhole slot into which the key of a lock to be assembled may be inserted, an electromagnetic relay system consisting of a bank of interlocked relays related to the several bits of a key and interconnected banks of relays having relation to the total number of pins to be assembled into a lock cylinder plug, a pin magazine having segregated quantities of tumbler pins of different lengths, means responsive to said relay system for positioning said magazine for the discharge of certain pins therefrom in a step-by-step manner, a preloading means having pin chambers comparable with the chambers of a lock plug adapted and arranged to assume positions for the reception of pins from said magazine as determined by said key sensing means, and means adjacent said magazine for ejecting pins therefrom for insertion into a proper chamber of the lock cylinder when the chambers of said pin preloader are brought into register with a predetermined segregated group of pins carried by said magazine.

10. In an apparatus for assembling the tumbler pins of a cylinder lock the combination of, a key sensing means having a keyhole slot into which the key of a lock to be assembled may be inserted, an electromagnetic relay system consisting of a bank of interlocked relays related to the several bits of a key and interconnected banks of relays having relation to the total number of pins to be assembled into a lock cylinder plug, a pin magazine having segregated quantities of tumbler pins of different lengths, means responsive to said relay system for positioning said magazine for the discharge of certain pins therefrom in a step-by-step manner, a preloading means having pin chambers comparable with the chambers of a lock plug adapted and arranged to assume positions for the reception of pins from said magazine as determined by said key sensing means, means adjacent said magazine for ejecting pins therefrom for insertion into a proper chamber of the lock cylinder when the chambers of said pin preloader are brought into register with a predetermined segregated group of pins carried by said magazine, means for supporting a key plug in a position to receive the selected pins carried by said pin preloader, and means for moving said preloader into pin discharging relation over said key plug and depositing the pins carried thereby into said key plug.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,679,759 8/1928 Best 29-211 2,909,950 10/ 1959 Francis 29208 3,061,147 10/ 1962 Vilmerding 221-268 3,066,395 12/ 1962 Hopkins 29203 3,111,748 11/1963 Doll et a1. 29-208 WHITMORE A. WILTZ, Primary Examiner.

THOMAS H. EAGER, Examiner. 

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR SELECTING AND ASSEMBLING THE KEY ENGAGING PINS OF A TUMBLER LOCK IN CONFORMITY WITH THE PRE-CUT BITS OF A KEY, THE COMBINATION OF A PIN SUPPLY MAGAZINE HAVING SEGREGATED GROUPS OF PINS OF DIFFERENT LENGTHS, MEANS FOR EJECTING PINS FROM SAID SUPPLY MAGAZINE, A KEY SENSING MEANS FOR DETERMINING THE PINS TO BE EJECTED FROM SAID MAGAZINE AS REQUIRED BY THE BITS OF SAID KEY, A PRELOADING MEANS FOR TRANSFERRING PINS EJECTED FROM SAID SUPPLY MAGAZINE TO A CYLINDER LOCK PLUG, AN ELECTRO-PNEUMATIC SYSTEM RESPONSIVE TO SAID KEY SENSING MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE SELECTION OF A PROPER PIN FROM SAID SUPPLY MAGAZINE FOR EACH BIT OF KEY, AS DETERMINED BY SAID KEY SENSING MEANS, AND MEANS FOR MOVING SAID PRELOADING MEANS WITH SAID SELECTION OF PINS TO A LOCK PLUG AS A CONTINUOUS OPERATION. 